A Turn in the Road. Debbie Macomber

“Were we too young?”

      She shrugged, uncertain how to answer. Like Annie and Vance, Bethanne and Grant had attended the same college. He was a business major and she’d been pursuing a degree in education. They’d met over the summer between her junior and senior year. From their first date, Grant Hamlin had become her entire world. They were engaged by Christmas, and while her parents liked Grant, they’d wanted them to delay the wedding until after Bethanne graduated.

      Waiting, however, felt impossible. Grant was out of school and job-hunting. He was hired by Boeing in their corporate office, and with his first paycheck bought her an engagement ring.

      Against her parents’ wishes, Bethanne dropped out of school just six months shy of graduation. From that point forward she’d dedicated her life to being a good wife and mother. She’d worked briefly in a department store, but only until Andrew’s birth.

      “Too young?” she repeated his question. “Perhaps …”

      They finished their meal quickly after that, avoiding awkward subjects. When they left the restaurant, Grant walked her to her car.

      “I enjoyed dinner,” he said, standing beside her. “Did you?” The driver’s side door was open and she’d already thrown her purse on the passenger seat.

      “I did.”

      “And your dinner companion?”

      She gave him a warning look: don’t push it. “Tonight brought back a lot of memories,” was all she said.

      “It did for me, too.” He touched her car, tracing patterns in the dust. “We were happy, Bethanne,” he said, so softly she almost missed it.

      She nodded, suddenly sad. “We were,” she agreed. “At one time.”

      He tentatively raised his hands to touch the curve of her shoulders. “I’d give anything to take back the past six years,” he said, staring down at her.

      “Make that seven,” she added. His affair with Tiffany had been going on long before he’d asked for the divorce.

      “Seven,” he amended, and exhaled slowly. Then something in him seemed to deflate, and she read the regret in his eyes. “Tell me … is there any hope for us?”

      As she considered his question, she saw him tense, as if anticipating a blow.

      “I don’t know,” she said, shaking her head. Everything was just so confusing….

      “Would it be possible to put the past behind us—forget about the divorce and pretend the past seven years never happened?”

      “But they did.”

      “I know,” he whispered brokenly. “If I could take away what I did to you and the kids, I would. I’d pay whatever it cost. If you wanted blood, I’d bleed. I’m miserable without you, Bethanne.” His words were heartbreaking in their sincerity. “Tell me you’d be willing to let me have a second chance. All I need is a sliver of hope.”

      He wanted an answer … but as hard as she tried, Bethanne couldn’t give him one.

      A lump formed in her throat. She had loved Grant … still did in certain ways that were tied to their shared past, to the memories of their marriage, the years of struggle and sacrifice, the happiness of companionship. And despite everything, they were linked forever through their children.

      “Maybe,” she breathed.

      He smiled then, and his shoulders relaxed. “That’s enough for now.”

      Four

      Annie rummaged around inside her mother’s closet looking for the silver chain belt that would go perfectly with her Mexican-style skirt. When Vance came by to pick her up for dinner, she wanted him to be awestruck by her beauty. It wasn’t every day of the week that a girl got a marriage proposal—if that was what he intended. Annie thought so; all the evidence pointed to exactly that. Dinner at an expensive restaurant, being seen in a high-end jewelry store. What else was she to think?

      She located the belt and wrapped it around her waist, checking her reflection in the full-length mirror that hung on her mother’s bathroom door. The mirror also reflected the queen-size bed her parents had once shared. Even after six years of living alone, her mother still slept on the right-hand side. Not in the middle.

      Silly as it sounded, this gave Annie hope that her parents would one day reunite. It was what her father wanted most in the world. What Annie wanted, too. Her parents were meant to be together. Her father had made a terrible mistake, but he was sorry. More than anything he wanted to make it up to the family, and in Annie’s opinion they should let him.

      It felt good to be close to her dad again. Now that the lovely Tiffany was gone, Annie felt there was real hope for a reconciliation between her parents. It just seemed wrong for them to live apart. The problem was getting her mother to recognize how sincere he was and take him back. Annie loved them both so much, and all she wanted was for them to be happy. What they did with their lives wasn’t really up to her, as Andrew pointed out with annoying regularity, but sometimes she felt she understood them better than they understood themselves.

      The security alarm beeped, indicating that someone had entered the house. “Is that you, Mom?” Annie called down from the second-story hallway.

      “Annie? What are you doing here?”

      Annie had her own apartment near the University of Washington campus. “I came to borrow your silver belt. You don’t mind, do you?”

      “Of course not.”

      “Are you and Dad finished with dinner already?” she asked as she walked down the stairs.

      “Yes, it didn’t take long.” Bethanne hung her jacket in the hall closet and smiled over at Annie. “You look fabulous.”

      “You think so?” Confirmation from her mother meant everything.

      “What time is Vance picking you up for dinner?” her mother asked, glancing at her watch.

      “Eight-thirty. Our reservation isn’t until nine.”

      “That’s a little late for dinner, isn’t it?”

      Annie nodded. “Vance said that was the earliest he could get us a table. Every tourist visiting Seattle wants to eat at the Space Needle. Vance must have pulled a few strings to even get a reservation.”

      Her mother considered the comment. “I didn’t realize Vance knew anyone with strings to pull.”

      “Mom,” she protested. “Vance had classes with Matt, remember? And Matt buses tables at the Space Needle. Matt must’ve put in a word for Vance.”

      “He must have.” Her mother walked into the living room, where she kept her knitting.

      “How’re Courtney’s wedding gloves coming along?”

      “So far so good.” Bethanne settled into her favorite chair. She had the pattern on a clipboard, held there by a magnet that marked her row. Her mother picked up her glasses, perching them on the end of her nose, and her knitting, which only had a few rows completed.

      This was a far more complicated project than anything Annie would ever undertake. “I want you to knit something for my wedding, too, you know.”

      “I wouldn’t dream of doing anything else—when the time comes. If you want, you can take a look at the dress and veil I wore when I married your father. It’s yours should you choose to wear it.”

      “Oh. Mom, could I really wear your wedding dress?”

      “We’re about the same size, so I don’t see why not.”

      Her parents’ wedding picture used to hang on the stairway wall. Annie had seen it practically every day of her life until after their divorce. She didn’t know where the photograph